Flexible Couplings and Shafts

The shaft coupling is a critical interface between components of a transmission system; it has an essential role in ensuring the overall compatibility of these components.

The importance of the coupling

The compatibility factor becomes of increasing importance as the Designer moves towards a modular design concept, sourcing components from seperate specialist manufacturers. The coupling has a number of important functions to perform in a transmission over and above 'joining two shafts together'. We have prepared these notes to outline the more important of these functions and to show how well the principal coupling types perform them.

The coupling specification

The coupling specification inevitably has to meet numerous and sometimes conflicting requirements:

• Torque capacity
• Physical size
• Torsional stiffness
• Damping
• Mis-alignment capabilities
• Chemical immunity
• Thermal immunity
• Acceptable maintenance
• Maintainability
• Capital Cost
• Life costs

Twiflex engineers are available to discuss, analyse and advise on coupling suitability for any application, and provide the technical support needed.